[Bug 566914] [NEW] Bluetooth HID barcode reader drops digits (code128)

[Evan]

Public bug reported:

Binary package hint: bluez

I apologize is if this the wrong place or format for the report.  This
is my first bug report.

An HID bluetooth barcode reader scanning Code128 barcodes (and possibly
other symbologies) will drop repeating digits if they are less than 8
digits apart.  This does NOT happen if the repeating digits are back to
back.


Example the number encoded in a code128 barcode then scanned with a bluetooth HID barcode reader:

-"1234567890" will properly return "1234567890"
-"10"  will properly return "10"
-"100" will properly return 100  (the repeating zero's are back to back, so no problem)
-"1010" will IMPROPERLY return "10"
-"10101" will IMPROPERLY return "10"
-"101010" will IMPROPERLY return "10"
-"1010101" will IMPROPERLY return "10"
-"10101010" will IMPROPERLY return "100" (yes 100)

The test system has a USB (Anycom or Trendnet) bluetooth USB dongles
with an Intermec sf51 bluetooth HID barcode scanner successfully paired
(as HID profile) to the Ubuntu system.

Using USBMON in debug I can see the all of the proper digits coming
across in hex.  There are no dropped digits.  I then used HCIDump and
again saw all the digits coming across without loss.  Using Showkey
shows the problem I believe.

Scanning the barcode "1010" shows this in showkey:

keycode 2 press
keycode 11 press
keycode 2 release
keycode 11 release

Keycode 2 is "1" and Keycode 11 is "0".

More complex numbers better illustrate the problem:

Scanning the barcode "L003184192" returns "L00318492".  The "1" is
missing.    This is what appears in showkey (I've added the ASCII letter
after the "press" or "release" statement from showkey for this example
text):

keycode  42 press (shift)
keycode  38 press  (L)
keycode  42 release (shift)
keycode  38 release (L)
keycode  11 press (0)
keycode  11 release (0) 
keycode  11 press (0)
keycode   4 press  (3)
keycode   2 press  (1)
keycode   9 press (8)
keycode   5 press (4)
keycode  10 press (10)
keycode  11 release (0)
keycode   4 release (3)
keycode   2 release (1)
keycode   9 release  (8)
keycode   5 release (4)
keycode  10 release  (9)
keycode   3 press (2)
keycode   3 release (2)

What looks to be happening is that the missing "1" key is "pressed" at
the beginning of the input and is not "released" in time to be "pressed"
again.

This bug has existed in Ubuntu in all versions I've tried back to 7.10
(and confirmed in 8.10, 9.04 and 10.2 beta).

** Affects: bluez (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New

-- 
Bluetooth HID barcode reader drops digits (code128)
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/566914
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